BMT Myrtle Avenue Line
}} The Myrtle Avenue Line, also called the Myrtle Avenue El., is a fully elevated line of the New York City Subway, as part of the division. The extant line is the final remnant of one of the original elevated railroads. The remnant line operates as a spur branch from the Jamaica Line to , and , and terminates at its original Eastern terminal across the street from Lutheran Cemetery. Until 1969, the line continued west into downtown , even earlier continuing on to the Brooklyn Bridge to a terminal at Park Row in . Extent and service The Myrtle Avenue Line is currently served by only service. Until 1969, service ran over the full line to downtown Brooklyn; the J in the designation came from the line's end at Bridge–Jay Streets. The line begins at Middle Village–Metropolitan Avenue in . It heads southwest along private right-of-way, eventually coming to rest on an elevated structure above Palmetto Street and ]. Just before reaching Broadway (on which the BMT Jamaica Line operates), the line curves to the left and merges into the Jamaica Line tracks just east of Myrtle Avenue station. The upper level of the station (called "Broadway"), which opened in 1889 and closed on October 4, 1969, still exists, but is no longer used. During evenings, late nights and all day on weekends, the service terminates here. During this period the uses the new R-143 trains, but are operated as OPTO (one person train operation) with only 4 cars. Background The first section of the line, over Myrtle Avenue from Johnson and Adams Streets via Adams Street and Myrtle Avenue to a junction with what was then known as the Main line at Grand Avenue, was opened at 11:00 on April 10, 1888 by the Union Elevated Railroad. Trains continued along Grand Avenue and Lexington Avenue to Broadway, where the line joined the Broadway Elevated, and then along Broadway to . On September 1, 1888, the line was extended westward along Adams Street and Sands Street, to a terminal at Washington Street for the Brooklyn Bridge. On April 27, 1889, the line was extended east along Myrtle Avenue to Broadway, probably at the station above the Broadway Elevated. The west end of the line was extended north along Adams Street to an elevated loop, over Sands Street and High Street west to Liberty Street, in 1896. The connection to the Brooklyn Bridge tracks opened at 16:00 on June 18, 1898, along private right-of-way halfway between Concord Street and Cathedral Place. The first trains to use it came from the Fifth Avenue Elevated (using the Myrtle Avenue El west of Hudson Avenue). The line was later extended east to Wyckoff Avenue (at the Brooklyn/Queens border). In 1906 the el was connected via a ramp to the Lutheran Cemetery Line, a former line to Metropolitan Avenue that had opened on September 3, 1881. That section was elevated as part of the on February 22, 1915. On July 29, 1914, the connection to the Broadway (Brooklyn) Line was opened, allowing Myrtle Avenue Line trains to operate via the Williamsburg Bridge. This service became in 1924, and the original Myrtle Avenue Line service to Park Row became , later referred to as ( and ). On March 5, 1944, the line west of Jay Street was abandoned coincident with the end of elevated service over the Brooklyn Bridge. The rest of the line from Broadway to Jay Street was abandoned on October 4, 1969, with the last train running just after midnight that morning. Chaining information *The entire line is chained BMT M. This has no relation to the fact that the train service operates on the line, though both letters may have been chosen because 'Myrtle' begins with 'M'. *The tracks on the line are M1 towards Metropolitan Avenue and M2 towards Manhattan. *''Chaining zero'' is BMT Eastern, located at the intersection of the line of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Chambers Street on the BMT Nassau Street Line by way of the now-dismantled original BMT Brooklyn Bridge Elevated Line and the original Myrtle Avenue Elevated through downtown Brooklyn. *As originally surveyed, this line was measured in a Railroad East direction from Park Row. Once the Board of Transportation took over the system, the direction was reversed so that Railroad north on this line became towards Manhattan, and corresponds roughly to a westerly to southwesterly compass direction. Station listing Every station is served by trains and only trains, 24 hours a day. External links *NYCsubway.org - BMT Myrtle Branch References *The New Road Opened, New York Times April 11, 1888 page 8 *City and Suburban News, New York Times April 28, 1889 page 6 *New of the Railroads, ''New York Times January 9, 1896 page 15 *Park Row to Sheepshead Bay, New York Times'' June 19, 1898 page 5 *1,200 on Last Trip on Myrtle Ave. El; Cars Are Stripped, New York Times October 4, 1969 page 23